Not every partnership starts with a product already worked out. Ours with Kel Connolly at Blackandles started with a conversation about what a candle range could be if purpose was part of the brief from day one, not an afterthought.
Kel hand-pours every candle and reed diffuser in the Homestead range personally — small batches, natural ingredients, no shortcuts to speed up production at the cost of quality. That craftsmanship is exactly why we wanted to work with Blackandles rather than a mass manufacturer: a candle that's genuinely well made earns a permanent place in someone's home, and a permanent place in someone's home is where a "every purchase funds 10 meals" message actually gets to do its work, week after week, long after the sale.
Homestead is deliberately named for what it's meant to evoke — natural, simple, purposeful, a little bit of farm life brought into your own space. That's Kel's instinct as much as ours; getting the scent and the styling right so it feels considered rather than generic took real back-and-forth, and it's still evolving as we develop gift boxes and new scents.
What we appreciate most about working with Kel is the willingness to launch small and get it right, rather than rush a full range to market. Homestead's pre-order model exists because Blackandles would rather under-promise on volume than over-promise on quality — precisely the standard we want every partner product carrying our name to meet.
Available in Espresso and Vanilla Bean.
Pre-order Homestead at www.mfp.org.au/collections/homestead.
